The University of Ghana branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UG-UTAG) is requesting an update on the status of the suspended Public Universities Bill (PUB).

Of concern to the Association is the re-laying of the Bill in parliament after concerns have been raised by UTAG on the unconstitutionality of the Bill and its attendant negative effect on public tertiary education in Ghana.

In a press release signed by its President, Dr. Samuel Nkumbaan, and addressed to Parliament, the Association also registered their reluctance “to believe that the Bill could be tabled in the dying days of the current Parliament without the promised consultations”.

“Re-laying the Bill in Parliament – without broad consultations and against the very vocal disaffection expressed by faculty, staff and students against this Bill – will not serve Ghana’s hard-earned image around the world as a stable democracy,” it reads.

“These are not the actions of a listening government,” it added.

The Bill which seeks to harmonise the governance, operations, and administration of Public Universities in the country, generated controversy and criticism from stakeholders in the education sector upon its introduction.

Consequently, all considerations of the PUB was suspended by Parliament on Thursday, October, 22.

The Minority spokesperson on Education, Peter Nortsu Kotoe, explained that the Education Committee of Parliament recommended that government pulls the brakes on the passage of the Bill to allow further consultation.

UG-UTAG has therefore prayed Parliament to provide updates on the current status of the Bill, in order to further its actions.

“We are by this letter humbly requesting to be furnished with information about the true and actual status of the draft Bill in Parliament, to enable us determine our next line of action,”.